Old Film Look by Andy Halls, USA



Film scratches come in two shades; black or white. Black scratches are created during the shoot (perhaps by a dirty gate) and appear on the negative as white lines. When the positive print is made (the one you see in the theatre), the white becomes black. White scratches are created on the print of the film after it has been run through too many dirty projectors and the emulsion is scratched off.

Step 1: Create a New Composition and Import your video clip. Place the clip in your Timeline. Create a New Solid (Control+Y). Make the solid the same size as the composition. Name the layer scratches.

Step 2: To the Scratches layer, apply the Fractal Noise effect and choose the following settings.


Note: Decreasing the amount of noise is done by changing the Contrast and Brightness settings. Increasing the Contrast value to 250 and lowering the Brightness value to -100 is a great place to start. If you want to increase the number of scratches, begin by increasing the Brightness value. To make some scratches more pronounced than others, increase the Contrast value.


Step 3: For moving the scratches, Create an initial keyframe for Offset Turbulence by clicking on the Stopwatch icon. Move to the end of the Timeline by pressing the End key on your keyboard. Change the Offset Turbulence Y-axis value to a really large negative number (like -10000). The reason we are using a negative number is so the scratches move from the bottom of the screen to the top.

Step 4: When you are satisfied with your scratches, change the Transfer Mode of the Scratches layer to Add. Now that we have completed the scratches for our old film, let’s create some crud. The crud build up I am talking about usually comes from improper storage of the film. This can lead to stains, mildew, mold and the like to damage the film.


Step 5: Create a New Layer. Make this layer the same size as your composition, change the color to black. Apply the Fractal Noise effect to this layer. Change the Contrast value to 350 and lower the Brightness value to -100. Reduce the opacity to 50% (according to footage).


Step 6: With the Timeline Indicator at the beginning of the Timeline, create an initial keyframe for the Evolution control in the Effect Controls Panel. Move the Timeline Indicator to the end of the Timeline and crank the Evolution amount to a high number. In this example I used a value of 2000 rotations and change the Transfer Mode to Silhouette Luma.


Step 7: To create a Sepia look for your movie, create an Adjustment layer, and place it just above your video layer in the Timeline. To the Adjustment layer, apply the Tint effect. Change the Map White To color to the Sepia tone of your choice.


Step 8: Make the solid the same size as the composition, change the color to black. You will need to apply a round mask to the layer. An easy way to do this is to change the Mask Tool to an Oval and then double click on the tool icon. This will create an oval mask the size of the layer. Invert the mask and change the Feather Amount to 200. If you want to go for even greater realism, create another Adjustment layer in your Timeline and adjust the Brightness/Contrast of the video layer over time.


That's it. Hope you enjoy this small after effects tutorial.

This tutorial was first published in the CGArena Free PDF Magazine May 06 Issue. Download your copy now